Comb.



No. 764,165. ,PATENTBD JULY 5, 1904.

' K. TOJBTTI.

COMB.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

Fig.1.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR g 5 W 17 TgeZ I/ BY I V I .a v I. I M/ ATTORNEY No. 764,165. f,

KATHERINE TOJETTI,

Patented July 5, 1904 PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,165, dated uly 5, 1904.

Application filed April 12, 1904- Serial No. 202,733. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, KATHERINE TOJETTI, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combs, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in combs, such as tuck or back and side combs, designed to be worn on the head, and pertains more especially to novel means for securely fastening the comb in the hair, so as to prevent the loss or loosening of the comb during use.

The fastening device of my invention comprises a pocket to be placed upon the lower ends of at least two teeth of the comb and span the space between said teeth and means for detachably securing said pocket in position after the comb has been applied to the head in the usual manner, the said device being inserted through the hair and engaged upon the teeth of the comb and when in position concealed by the hair. The fastening device when in position confines all the strands of hair that may be between the two teeth engaged by said device, and hence said device prevents any accidental loss of the comb or any removal thereof until said device has been detached therefrom.

In one form of my invention I apply within the pocketof the fastening device a special form of spring to engage the teeth of the comb and also apply a small knob or catch on the back of the comb to be engaged by a tongue connected with said pocket, thereby the more positively locking the comb in the hair. In some instances I will rely upon the spring for locking the pocket upon the teeth of the comb, and in other instancesI will rely upon the lock formed by the engagement of said tongue with said knob or catch carried by the comb.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a comb embodying my invention, the new fastening device being in position thereon. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of same, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of same on the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, 10 designates the comb proper, and this comb may be of any usual or suitable form, construction, or material. Upon the inner side of the back 11 of the comb is provided a small catch or knob 12, which may be secured to the comb in any suitable manner or made integral therewith. In the drawingsI illustrate the catch or knob 12 as carried bya stem fastened into the back 11; but it is obvious that the invention is not limited to any special means for securing or applying the catch 12 to the comb.

The fastening device of my invention is numbered as a whole 18 and comprises in the construction shown a tongue 14, having an eye 15 at one end and a pocket 16 at the other end, said pocket being adapted to pass upon and engage the lower ends of at least two teeth of the comb and said eye 15 being adapted to be pressed into engagement withthe catch 12. Within the pocket 16 is secured a leaf-spring 17, one member of which curves downwardly and then at its end 19 turns inwardly or toward the rear, this end 19 of the spring having a rather sharp edge and being adapted to firmly though yieldingly bind against the teeth of the comb when said pocket is pushed upwardly upon said teeth. The fastening device 18 will preferably be formed of thin sheet metal, and the distance between the bottom of its pocket and its eye 15 will correspond with the distance between the lower ends of the teeth to be engaged by said pocket and the catch 12 to enter said eye, so that in applying the fastening device to the comb the wearer may know that when the pocket 16 has been pressed home upon the teeth the eye 15 will be in correct position to engage the catch 12. The engagement of the bottom of the pocket 16 with the lower ends of the teeth of the comb enables the location of the eye 15 at a point in the tongue 14: at such distance from said pocket that when said eye is pressed upon the catch 12 it may engage the same with a snap action, and said ends of said teeth forming a point of resistance against which a light pressure is exerted by the upper wall of the eye 15 when the latter is pressed upon said catch. Should in any instance the bottom of the pocket 16 not ongage the lower ends of the teeth of the comb, but simply pass upon the sides thereof loosely, the eye 15 and catch 12 would have to be of a construction enabling them to securely engage each other in the manner, for instance, of the two parts of an ordinary glove-fastener, and I illustrate such construction in the drawings, although when the fastening device 18 is of the preferred length, as shown, the catch 12 may be simply a plain solid knob.

In the employment of the comb the fastening device 18 will first be removed therefrom and the comb then inserted into the hair in the usual manner, after which the device -18 will be introduced up through the hair along the inner side of the comb, the pocket 16 being passed upon the two teeth in line with the catch 12 and the eye 15 then pressed upon the catch 12, the said device 18 when thus applied being securely fastened to the comb and confining within the space between said two teeth all the strands of hair that may be therein, thereby preventing any removal of the comb from the head by accident or otherwise until said device 18 is first detached, which may be accomplished by first pressing the eye 15 from the catch 12 and then pressing the upper end of the spring 17 toward the said teeth and withdrawing the said device downwardly from the comb, leaving the latter free to be removed as usual. The pressing of the upper end of the spring 17 toward the teeth of the comb has the effect of causing the end 19 of said spring to recede from said teeth. WVhen the fastening device is in use, it is concealed by the hair.

The fastening device 18 when of the construction shown becomes when applied to the comb securely locked in position both by the spring 17 and the engagement of its tongue with the catch 12; but it is not necessary in all cases to employ both these locking features, and in instances in which the comb is without the catch 12 or is of small size the greater portion of the tongue 14 may be omitted and the spring 17 relied upon entirely for locking the pocket upon the teeth of the comb. When a comb is equipped with a catch 12, the spring 17 may be omitted and the fastening device secured to the comb by the engagement of the tongue 14: with said catch. The spring 17 is of special character and alone will securely lock the pocket 16 upon the teeth of a comb, notwithstanding the fact that such teeth are usually of polished material and taper downwardly. The spring 17 should be of such strength that it may press the edge of its end 19 very firmly against the teeth of the comb, and the upper curved end of the spring is eX- posed above the pocket 16, so that it may receive the pressure of the thumb or finger when it is desired to relieve said end 19 from the said teeth and withdraw the pocket from the comb.

What I claim as my invention, and. desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The comb having a catch 12 on the inner side of its back 11, and the independent fastening device to be detachably applied to the inner sideof said comb after the teeth of the latter have been embedded within the hair, said device comprising the pocket to be applied upon and span two teeth of the comb and the rigid tongue having the eye to detachably look upon said catch after said pocket is in position ,upon said two teeth; substantially as set fort' 2. The comb, and the independent fastening device to be detachably applied to the inner side of said comb after the teeth of the latter have been embeddedwithin the hair, said device comprising a rigid tongue having at its lower end the pocket to engage and span two teeth of the comb and at its upper end means for detachably locking said device upon the comb after said pocket is in position upon said two teeth; substantially as set forth.

3. The comb having the catch 12 on the inner side of its back 11, and the independent fastening device to be detachably applied to the inner side of said comb after the teeth of the latter have been embedded within the hair, said device comprising a rigid vertical tongue having at its lower end means to span and engage two teeth of the comb and at its upper end means to thereafter detachably lock upon said catch; substantially as set forth.

4. The comb, and the independent fastening device to be detachably applied to said comb after the teeth of the latter have been embedded within the hair, said device comprising the pocket to be applied upon the lower ends of at least two teeth of the comb, and the spring secured within said pocket to engage said teeth and thereby detachably fasten said. pocket in position; substantially as set forth.

5. The comb, and the independent fastening device to be detachably applied to said comb after the teeth of the latter have been embedded within the hair, said device comprising the pocket to be applied upon the lower ends of at least two teeth of the comb, and the spring 17 secured to said pocket and having the downwardly-curved member whose end 19 turns inwardly to engage said teeth; substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 11th day of April, A D. 1904c.

KATHERINE TOJETTI.

Witnesses:

CI-IAs. C. GILL, ARTHUR MARION. 

